KDomledge & SeieDdf le Nettis 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



Conducted by MAJOR B. BADEN-POWELL and E. S. GREW, M.A. 



Vol. I. No. 6. 



[new series.] 



JULY, 1904. 



r Entered at "1 

 I Stationers' Hall. J 



SIXPENCE. 



j Contents and Notices. See Page VII. 



Flower Mimics acnd 

 Allviring Resemblance. 



By Percy Collins. 



Not the least curious insects which gain protection from 

 their enemies by means of a likeness to surrounding 

 objects are those which may be described as flower 

 mimics. Of these, some remarkable instances have 

 already been described, nor is it unlikely that others, 

 equally striking, remain to be discovered. Among 

 butterflies, one may often trace a likeness between the 

 resting insect and the buds or blooms amongst which it 

 has settled. This flower resemblance is seen in the case 

 of our common "white" butterflies, which, when settled 

 among such blossoms as those of the pea tribe, have an 



Group of Orange-tip Butterflies and Cow Parsley. 



undeniable general likeness to the unopened flowers. 

 Again, a contributor to the Speaker recently pointed out 

 the resemblance of the resting " wood white " butterfly 

 {Leucophasia sinapis) to the flower buds of the corn 

 wheat — a plant invariably abundant in the woods fre- 

 quented by this dainty insect. The present writer is 



able to substantiate this ohservalion, being familiar with 

 one of the few remaining dij;tricts wherein the " wood 

 white " is still fairly common. 



A more specialised case of tloral simulation is seen in 

 the " orange-tip " butterfly {Eiuhloc mi'dinniiii-s), aninscct 

 familiar to all lovers of the outdoor world, 'i'he upper 

 surface of this butterfly's wings are white marked with 



A Species of Fl^ilit from Perak. (Somewhat enlarged.) 



black, with (in the male only) two large orange areas in 

 the fore wings. The colouring of the underside, which 

 is identical in both se.xes, seems designed in imitation of 

 a small truss of the tiny white florets of some umbellifer- 

 ous plant, such as the hedge parsley. Such pale or 

 white flower masses are among the commonest blossoms 

 of the hedgerow in the springtime, when the "orange-tip " 

 butterflies are on the wing. It is, of course, extremely 

 doubtful whether the butterflies have any knowledge of 

 their protective colouring ; nor is there any ground for 

 supposing that the insects select the neighbourhood of 

 umbelliferous blooms as resting places. At the same 

 time, it seems quite admissible to suppose that the colour 

 likeness of E. aiyduiiniies to florescence common in spots 

 frequented by the insect is likely to stand it in good stead 

 as a protective disguise. The underside of the hind 

 wings, between which the fore wings are folded when 

 the insect is at rest, are mottled white and green — the 

 white patches resembling tiny florets, while the green 

 represents the background of vegetation against which 

 they are supposed to be seen. Those who have not ob- 

 served the " orange tip " butterfly in nature may judge 

 of the closeness of the protective resemblance by a glance 

 at the accompanying photograph. 



Several of our common " blue " butterflies have wings 

 mottled and spotted on the under surfaces in a manner 

 which suggests the plantain heads and grass flowers 

 amon'r which these insects are accustomed to rest. And 



